In the feeding or supply of metal sheet-like articles or blanks to a machine or press where one or more operations are performed on each article, it is commonly desirable to supply or transfer the articles to the press in a successive manner and at a high rate of speed so that optimum performance can be obtained from the press. It is also desirable for the feeding or transfer mechanism to operate in a continuous and dependable manner without interruption so that there is no down time of the press which receives the articles.
Frequently, it is necessary to supply or feed sheet-like articles such as flat blanks to a press by picking up each sheet from the top of a supply stack, moving the sheet laterally or horizontally to a predetermined location and then lowering the sheet onto a feeding mechanism which successively feeds the blanks or sheets into the press. Furthermore, it is usually desirable for the articles or sheets to be transferred from the supply stack to the press in precise timed relation with the operation of the press.